Plants to Naturally Filter Your Air

It’s important to think about what can be done to improve our health in Beijing, rather than just moan about the toxic environment. Over the weekend our friend and Beijing Kids columnist Dr. Richard blogged some useful tips for living “green” in Beijing. Most usefully, Dr. Richard details three types of plants that are particularly good for naturally filtering the air in your apartment.

The common and inexpensive plants mentioned by Dr Richard are “the Areca Palm (风尾竹, fèngwěizhú)… good for creating oxygen; the snake plant (虎皮兰, hǔpílán)… good for bedrooms; and the money plant（绿萝, lǜluó）[which] helps remove gaseous chemicals”.

Dr Richard also recommends we try and eat organic when possible, particularly with the fruits and vegetables ranked as the worst offenders when it comes to the use of pesticides and chemicals – namely peaches, apples, peppers and celery. Organics are becoming easier to find through specialty shops as well as at regular markets, and the Global Times mentioned last week that people are continuing to push for better farming practices around Beijing.

People can also help out Dr Richard by taking his short survey on health in Beijing. The survey gives readers a chance to voice concerns on “what do you feel are the most serious health problems in Beijing?”